Family speaks out after plea deal of man charged in fatal crash

LEHI, Utah — A hearing was held Wednesday afternoon in the Fourth Judicial District Court of Utah for John Jeffrey Williams, who pleaded guilty to aggravated assault and driving while intoxicated.

The parties reached an agreement after the incident on the road in Lehi took place at the beginning of June. And it led to the death of 38-year-old Michael Brown. It was a very emotional day for the Brown family, and there was not a dry eye in the courtroom.

“Through his unbridled anger and hatred, his inability to catch his breath and continue driving, Mr. Williams changed the course of this beautiful family’s lives forever,” said Lynn Mortensen, Brown’s father-in-law.

Brown and his two sons, ages 9 and 10, were on their way to meet their mother when a road accident changed everything.

“It’s a traumatic way that we lost Michael, you never think that a member of your family would be killed in such a brutal way,” said Cindy Brown, sister-in-law.

The family is experiencing trauma, especially two sons.

“He killed my husband. In front of my children, and he only had to serve 26 days in jail. When Mr. Williams was arrested, he was not charged, but he was arrested for aggravated assault with bodily injury. That would be a secondary offense, when Michael was pronounced dead, charged with murder, which is a bogus case,” said Michael Brown’s wife, Mandy Brown.

Three family members testified at the court hearing on Wednesday. “The only reason the family decided to take the plea deal was to spare the boys trauma,” Cindy Brown said.

The parties agreed on five years with a probationary period. “He cannot break any laws or it will result in the full effect of the sentence. Also, it kept the kids from testifying that the restitution was a substantial amount that he could pay very quickly.” — Brandon Merrill. , a Utah homicide survivor advocate. The amount of compensation is about $213,000.

Mandy Brown, Michael’s wife and mother of their children, stressed that they only wanted to keep their sons out of harm’s way. “What they were forced to see robbed them of their innocence and introduced them to the darkness that my husband and I worked so hard to protect them from,” said Mandy Brown.

At the court hearing, Mykhailo’s father-in-law read letters written by his grandchildren:

“I see the whole fight in my memory, in great detail I see my dad lying on the road unconscious, bleeding everywhere. We can’t spend birthdays with our dad anymore, his favorite was Christmas and this day will be. how we play,” Lynn Mortensen, Brown. Father-in-law.

The family tells FOX 13 the devastation and heartbreak is immeasurable. “We will miss him on Thanksgiving. We miss him at Christmas. We missed him on the boy’s birthday and we miss him every day,” Cindy Brown said.